Topic: Facebook

Webmasters now have an easier, official app for tracking their website statistics on their iPhone with Google's new Analytics app, while celebrities and other public figures can more easily engage with their fanbases on Facebook thanks to the social network's new Mentions app.

At WWDC, Apple unveiled a new App Extension architecture for both iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. Here's how the new feature enables new and existing web services to extend iOS and OS X to support social sharing of documents, websites, photos and other media.

Social networking behemoth Facebook on Thursday released a new version of its Facebook Messenger application for iOS that brings with it a new user interface optimized specifically for the larger screens found on Apple's iPads.

Apple's iOS ecosystem played host to a trio of interesting updates Tuesday, with Facebook officially releasing its answer to Snapchat -- which itself showed off a new location-based group photo album feature -- while "quantified car" app Automatic received a redesign and a new fuel reporting feature.

John Harper, the creator of of Apple's Core Animation tool for developers and the inventor credited with designing gesture and scrolling animations in iOS, has apparently taken a new position at social networking giant Facebook.

Facebook on Wednesday launched a new, optional feature that allows its iPhone application to use the device's microphone to listen for and identify television and music content when posting a status update.

When fitness tracking app Moves was purchased by Facebook in late April, both companies sought to allay worries of privacy-minded users by saying there would be no data "commingling" between the software and the giant social network. It appears the statement was only partially true.

iOS users who keep in touch with friends and relatives using Facebook Messenger now have easier ways to share photos and videos with each other, while McDonald's added a slew of new entertainment options to its Happy Studio app for children.

Yet another Silicon Valley power entered the "quantified self" race on Thursday when Facebook acquired the developers behind Moves, an iPhone app that allows users to create an "activity diary" by automatically recording walking, cycling, and running.

Facebook users will now have an easier time meeting up with friends at social events or planning group activities using the social network's new Nearby Friends feature, an opt-in service that alerts friends when they are close to each other.

Social media behemoth Facebook is reportedly nearing a deal with Irish authorities that would allow the company to offer its European users electronic payment and remittance services ahead of Apple's hotly-anticipated entry into the market.

After word broke that virtual reality pioneer Oculus will be bought by Facebook for $2 billion, enthusiasts responded negatively, questioning the merits of the deal and future of the Rift headset. That led the co-founder of Oculus to take to the Internet to defend the sale, in which he argued Facebook is a better landing spot for the company than Apple or Microsoft.

As talks between Facebook and WhatsApp began to draw to a close, Google Chief Executive Larry Page made a last-ditch effort to block the deal, and was even willing to outdo the $19 billion agreement the messaging app eventually reached with Facebook.

Before WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook this week for some $19 billion in cash and stock, the messaging service was being aggressively pursued by search giant Google, which reportedly offered $10 billion and also made a unique offer in attempt to ensure it wouldn't be outbid.

Facebook on Wednesday announced its intentions to acquire popular messaging app WhatsApp in an initial cash and stock deal worth some $16 billion, not including an additional $3 billion provision for restricted stock units.

Popular 'DVR for the web' app Pocket was updated Wednesday to add support for AirPlaying saved videos to Apple TV, while social media behemoth Facebook announced a mobile ad pilot program that may be the company's first step toward competing with Apple's iAds.